AP slams de Blasio on press access

5/27/14 3:55 PM EDT

The Associated Press has written a damning report about Bill de Blasio's efforts to restrict press access, noting that the New York City mayor has barred reporters from more than 20 percent of his listed events.

In nearly five months in office, de Blasio barred the media from 53 events and limited access to 30 more, the AP found. De Blasio also uses a tactic similar to the White House, which will sometimes bar the press from an event only to publish a photo or video shot by a White House staffer:

Events in which reporters were notified of their existence but prevented from attending ranged from meetings with government figures such as the mayor of Seattle and Israel's minister of foreign affairs to sit-downs with the NBA commissioner, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Russian band Pussy Riot.

Often, the mayor's photographer later published images from those so-called private meetings, meaning that an official image of the event is the only one that exists. It's a tactic President Barack Obama has also used while restricting access to events in the White House and around the world. Several news organizations, including the AP, refuse to distribute such handout images from Obama or de Blasio.